


Save Place

by Duffy



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Cuddling & Snuggling, First Kiss, Fix-It, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Smoking, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 17:37:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19067401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duffy/pseuds/Duffy
Summary: Endgame spoilers ahead: a scene set between the funeral and Steve returning the stones.There weren't many words spoken when Bucky showed up in the middle of the night at Steve's place. There also weren't many gestures until Bucky decided it was the right time to reach for Steve's hand.By doing so, he might even convince Steve to stay instead of travelling back in time.





	Save Place

**Author's Note:**

> My life's a mess at the moment and I'm struggling a lot. This fic is kinda like a baby to me, because writing it made me happy for a couple of hours. 
> 
> I hope you like it as well.

His hand ran around the door frame, searching for the key that should be there somewhere. It just had to. It didn't take him long to find it, get a proper grip on it and unlocking the door in total darkness and silence.  
  
Steve, so predictable. Never learned to hide a key properly.  
  
He silently slipped inside and closed the door behind his back, letting the spare key fall onto a plate that had its place on a small cabinet next to a messy wardrobe. He immediately noticed the old and worn out leather jacket hanging there.  
  
The small hallway let into an open but small living room and kitchen area, which gave hardly room for a couch and a tv stand or a dinner table. But it seemed cosy. The lights were turned off and Bucky didn't bother turning them on. The serum in his body had made his eyesight better than before, even in total darkness. He could see the bedroom through the half-opened door. It took him less than a second to register the flat was empty.  
  
He smoothly made his way behind the small couch towards the open door that lead to the balcony. Lights from the outside were shimmering through the drawn curtains.  
  
He stood in the open door, a small balcony in front of him. There were flower boxes on the railing, colourful fairy lights were twisted through them that illuminated the night. Some potted plants on the ground. A tiny round table which currently had a glass of wine and an ash tray placed on top. To his right was a bench, giving place for two people, facing the street ten floors down.  
  
Steve sat on said bench. He didn't say anything when Bucky stepped out and quietly sat right next to Steve, and let himself sink into the thin cushions. Steve had probably heard him the moment he had unlocked the door.  
  
They sat in silence and Bucky watched Steve taking a drag from his recently lit cigarette. He held it delicately between his pointer finger and middle finger of his right hand, blowing out the smoke into the dark, lifting his head doing so.  
  
Bucky had to think of the day when they both tried their first cigarette back in the late ’20th. Bucky had gotten a cigarette from a friend and they had hidden behind a house in a back alley. Steve had had a coughing fit that nearly resulted in an asthma attack and Bucky never had a smoke near Steve again, but picked up the occasional cigarette when being in duty. But he couldn't remember Steve smoking any time afterwards again.  
  
Steve seemed to sense his thoughts and noticed Bucky’s eyes glued to the cig between his fingers. ”Bad habit. I sometimes have a smoke when I'm stressed”, he explained himself and fell silent for a moment before he continued. ”When there’s too much on my mind.” His voice was calm and he took another drag. The cigarette glowed bright orange when he sucked on it. Bucky didn't say anything and just respected his choice, took the cigarette out of his hand and took a drag himself.  
  
The smoke burned in his throat. ”Yeah. I know that feeling”, was finally his answer to break the silence. Smoke came out of his mouth when he spoke.  
  
Steve took the cigarette back, closed his lips one last time around the filter before dumping it into the ashtray in front of him.  
  
They sat in silence for another minute or two, just watching the New York lights reflecting into the clouded sky.  
  
”How did you know I’d be here?”, Steve eventually asked but rolled his eyes right after the dumb question was out. Of course, Bucky would know, he was a super soldier after all. Bucky answered anyway. ”Pepper told me. She knows everything. Said you'd come here when things get too much for ya.” Steve hummed in agreement.  
  
Another moment of silence passed between the two of them. A light wind blew and made the flowers rustle.  
  
”It’s a nice place you’ve got yourself here. Way better than our old apartment”, Bucky shifted next to him and leaned forward to reach for the glass of wine in front of them. He took a sip. ”Since when do you drink wine? You know it doesn't get us drunk anymore, right?” Steve blew a laugh through his nose. ”I like the taste of it, though.” He took the glass out of Bucky’s hand a took a sip himself. He didn't put it back on the small table, kept it in his right hand, resting it on his lap.  
  
”You’re getting old, Rogers”, Bucky chuckled and a small smile passed over Steve’s lips as well.  
They fell in comfortable silence again, just sitting next to each other. It was Steve who spoke first after a few minutes. ”What got you here, Buck?”  
  
Bucky hesitated for a second before he answered. ”I didn't know where to go. Stark’s tower didn't feel right after...” He trailed off, left the sentence unfinished. ”Well, you know.” Steve nodded in agreement. ”Yeah, I know.”  
  
After everything that recently had happened, it still rested heavily on their shoulders. ”Will you be the one returning the stones?” Bucky asked suddenly and Steve lifted the glass to his lips once more to get a few seconds before answering his question.  
  
”I don't know. Maybe.” He shrugged.  
  
”I don't want you to go, Steve, I don't want to lose another friend.” Bucky turned his head to face Steve. ”I don't want to lose you again, you know?”  
  
”I might not go, then.” Steve’s voice was soft. ”I don't want to lose you, either.”  
  
And then Bucky’s metal arm gently reached for Steve’s left hand, lifted it up and pulled Steve’s arm around his own neck and let it come to rest on his shoulders. He scooted closer to Steve and somehow snuggled into his friend’s left side.  
  
Steve didn't mind. To be honest, he really liked this gesture. It remembered him of a night where he was ill once again and Bucky had taken care of him. He'd been so exhausted from coughing and throwing up all night, that he had slumped down next to Bucky and had wrapped Bucky’s arm around his shoulders. Bucky had been the larger one of them both back then. It had been comfortable and Bucky had just held him until he had felt better.  
  
And now he was able to give back the gesture.  
  
Steve was the taller one of them now, if only by inches. It felt good to have his friend so close. He had dearly missed him all those years. So without hesitation, he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Bucky’s long, back-tied hair. Bucky hummed, a sound of comfort.  
  
Bucky’s hand was still holding onto Steve’s and he tightened his grip when could feel that kiss pressed to his head. The kiss lingered for a moment and it made Bucky feel warm inside.  
  
”I've missed you”, he said and it meant so much more. In response, Steve pulled him tighter towards his side, Bucky’s head came to rest on Steve’s chest. He could hear his heartbeat clearly in his head. Steve’s shirt felt soft against his cheek.  
  
They both breathed in unison, Steve brought the glass once again to his lips before he sat it down on the table. Bucky could hear and feel him swallow.  
  
Suddenly something shifted in Steve’s breath and Bucky felt another kiss pressed to his head once more. Steve’s lips brushed his forehead and his breath ghosted over his skin. It made him shiver in a good way.  
  
It was an easy decision for Bucky to know what to do next. So he tilted his head up and caught Steve’s eyes for a moment. The light of the fairy lights mirrored in them. Steve didn't blink, just looked back and suddenly everything was clear between them both. Steve leaned down, Bucky reached towards him and then their lips met in a chaste kiss.  
  
They didn't move for a couple of seconds, remained completely motionless and silent until they broke the kiss. Bucky still held onto Steve’s hand on his shoulder, their fingers now intertwined with each other.  
  
Without letting go of Steve’s hand in his own, Bucky sat up straighter, scooted even closer than he already was.  
  
As if waiting for each other’s consent, they both hesitated for a moment, staring at each other's eyes and lips. And then it was Steve who grabbed Bucky by the neck with his right hand, pulled him closer and pressed their lips together for the second time. Not as light as before but also not too rough either. It was gentle when they both began to move their lips against each other.  
  
Bucky let go of Steve’s hand so he could put his now free hand on Steve’s hip. He gripped the fabric of his shirt tightly in his metal hand, not thinking about if it would rip or not. And he could feel Steve respond to the touch by pulling him closer, holding him tighter, kissing him deeper and now more forcefully.  
  
There was a warm flutter in his stomach.  
  
The tip of his tongue slowly licked along Steve's upper lip. He tasted of sweet wine and cigarettes and something that was probably just Steve. A moan escaped his mouth when Steve caught his bottom lip between his teeth, lightly sucking and biting on it.  
  
Steve's hand rose from Bucky’s shoulder and got a grip in his messy bun. Another moan.  
  
Bucky loosened his grip on Steve’s shirt and let his left hand travel up his chest, reaching for Steve’s collar. Even though it wasn't possible to get him any closer, he still pulled on it and inched forward himself.  
  
Bucky basically melted into the kiss, all that pressure from his past was falling off his chest, at least for the moment. It felt so good to finally kiss Steve, the boy he grew up with and used to love for the last hundred years. He'd just never acted on it this way like now. Because the times were different back then, and then life had happened.  
  
This moment wasn't why he initially came here for. But he was glad it had happened.  
  
They both broke their kiss for a moment to draw in deep breathes and stare at each other for a second. Steve brushed his right thumb over Bucky’s cheek.  
  
”I’ve missed you too, you know?”  
  
A smile, that Steve hadn't seen in way too many decades, appeared on Bucky’s lips, it even reached his eyes. It seemed like they were glowing and it made Steve feel all warm inside his chest.  
  
Twisting their upper bodies, so they could face each other, wasn't comfortable, so Bucky decided to change this situation by getting up and straddling Steve’s thighs. The small garden bench beneath them creaked a bit when Bucky shifted in his lap. But they didn't pay attention except to each other.  
  
Steve reached for Bucky’s hips and pulled him even closer, then reached up and drew him in for another kiss, sucking on his lips and slowly slipping his tongue inside his friend’s mouth.  
  
When Bucky pressed himself against Steve’s chest and his hands creped beneath the hem of his shirt, to make contact with hot skin, Steve felt at ease with himself and calmness washed over him. This was his friend, his Bucky, _his everything!_ They had to get through so many bad things together. Death, war, so much fighting and being on the run. Being separated again after so many years of thinking each other dead. But they’d been always together somehow, even if it was just in their thoughts, and now it finally had gotten them at this exact point. Bucky showing up in the middle of the night out of the blue and ending in his lap. This was their save place.  
  
It was perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback gladly appreciated, give me all your feels!
> 
> ["Save Place" on Tumblr](https://bespectacledgiraffe.tumblr.com/post/185319433681)


End file.
